For the first time since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015, India has broken into the top 100 countries in the UN SDG Index.
The country now ranks 99th out of 167 countries, with a score of 67, according to the 2025 Sustainable Development Report (SDR) released on Tuesday by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
This marks a consistent upward trend for India, which ranked 109th in 2024, 112th in 2023, and 121st in 2022.
The improvement is attributed to significant gains in basic services and infrastructure.
Regional performance
Among India’s neighbours, Bhutan ranked 74th with a score of 70.5, Nepal 85th with 68.6, and Bangladesh 114th with 63.9. Pakistan lagged far behind at 140th, while maritime neighbours Maldives and Sri Lanka stood at 53rd and 93rd, respectively.
East and South Asia have outperformed other global regions in SDG progress since 2015.
Countries such as Nepal (+11.1 points), Cambodia (+10), Bangladesh (+8.3), and the Philippines (+8.6) recorded the fastest improvements, with India showing steady advances.
India has seen marked progress in key targets such as access to electricity (SDG 7), mobile and internet use (SDG 9), and reductions in child mortality (SDG 3).
These improvements reflect a larger push towards infrastructure development and social inclusion.
However, countries worldwide are likely to meet only 17% of the SDG targets by 2030.
The report notes that conflicts, economic vulnerabilities, and limited fiscal resources are key barriers to progress.
Global leaders & laggers
European nations continue to dominate the SDG Index, with Finland, Sweden, and Denmark occupying the top three spots.
The United States, meanwhile, ranked last among 193 countries for the second consecutive year, reflecting its formal disengagement from the SDGs and other multilateral commitments.
Brazil leads the G20 at 25th place, while Chile tops OECD countries at 7th.
The report also highlighted that countries such as Benin (+14.5), the UAE (+9.9), and Saudi Arabia (+8.1) have shown notable improvements.
Lead author and economist Jeffrey Sachs emphasised that the global financial architecture remains skewed in favour of wealthier nations.
The report calls for urgent reforms to direct capital towards emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), which offer higher returns and greater development potential.
This message sets the tone for the upcoming International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain (June 30–July 3), where restructuring global financial flows will be a key agenda item.
India’s climb to the 99th rank reaffirms the nation’s commitment to its ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision for 2047.
The milestone signals a strong push in areas such as digital inclusion, healthcare, energy access, and poverty reduction, positioning India as a rising leader in global sustainable development efforts.
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